The day after our phone conversation on Wednesday, which was awesome as usual by the way, Sara texts me wanting to put off releasing her Fall/Winter collection. My Fashion Marketer’s gut reaction is this: “Sara, what the hell are you smoking? No, no, no!” But of course, I didn’t say that because that is not professional. I simply said that I would have to think about it. Then I actually thought about it because this internship truly does make you question everything you thought you knew. Perhaps that wasn’t such a bad idea. Perhaps maybe it was a good idea? She has a point that she doesn’t necessarily have to follow what everyone else’s schedule is and it would be true to the brand identity to do whatever the hell she wanted but everything inside my marketing brain is screaming “fuck no.” Everything in my creative brain is saying “try it anyways.” On the one hand, no one is anticipating the next collection yet, on the other, why delay? Furthermore, with the Fashion Season Calender as erratic as it already is with the emergence of fast fashion, does it really matter what schedule we follow? So I did what any other intelligent person does when they don’t know the answer to a difficult question and asked people who thought differently than me. I did not come up with a solid answer and I still feelconflicted about this idea. However, I’d still say it was productive. I got people to check out her site and I’ve somewhat made my peace with whatever choice Sara makes. Perhaps this is one of those situations where there isn’t a right or wrong answer. If you’ve got an opinion on this topic, by all means share it in the comments below. Really, ideas and thoughts are completely welcome.

Sara P. Lovejoy chiming in- The best part about all of this is, it is actually a miscommunication. Which is exactly why we decided to keep it. We discussed this and are all clear now but decided the post illustrates that we are trying to break and question all the rules. I have the freedom as an independent designer to make up my own rules and why would I continue to go with the flow. I need to use that as my strength. So on that note– we are looking at maybe doing seasons differently. Stay tuned & let us know if you have any thoughts!!!

Oh goodness. We are getting to the part where we are creating the dreaded Marketing Plan. A Marketing Plan can mean a few different things but it is simply a plan for moving forward. Basically I am to create an outline that discusses plans for the social media schedule, how to get the Sara P. Lovejoy name out there, when to start a kickstarter or gofundme as well as look at trade shows and other sorts of funding. I’m also looking into creating short little stories for the descriptions of the clothes in her last season and considering the idea of using Etsy and Sara’s designs for the promotion of her mother’s non-profit New Leash on Life. Will all of it get done on time? I guess we will just have to find out… just kidding. I’m too neurotic to not get this done.

Some of us have all the luck. I am probably one of those people. My internship with Sara is created in such a way that I can work remotely and really anywhere with cell phone and internet service. So when the opportunity arose for me to not only see my family but also attend a party full of young creatives like myself I jumped at the chance. I’m also fortunate enough to have flight benefits meaning, so long as there is an available seat on a plane, I can fly for next to nothing. This flight from Savannah to Dallas, the available seat happened to be right next to the General Manager of a Hugo Boss in California.

Whoever said wearing a nice dress wouldn’t get you places is a damn idiot. I had every intention of ignoring the person next to me and listening to my new playlist full of music from The Dead Kennedys, Wild Belle (THANK YOU SARA!) and Shakey Graves. However, the man next to me was very friendly and introduced himself maybe because I looked so put together. So, of course, I had to tell him about my internship! We talked the entire flight about the fashion industry, opportunities, traveling, my generation and what I’m trying to do for Sara P. Lovejoy. He assured me that once he got to the next gate for his flight to California that he would check out her website and e-mail me. Whether or not he actually intended to do so is debatable as I’m sure he’s busy and has a lot of other things to think about. However, he made the very grave mistake of giving me his business card with his E-mail address. That’s right General Manager of Hugo Boss, if you don’t e-mail me, by the time this blog has been posted I will have already e-mailed you! If you are reading this now, I heartily encourage you to follow this blog and make your friends follow it as well.

Anyways, this week for Sara P. Lovejoy, I have to create a short version of her Bio, which she loved, thank goodness and make a few minor edits. I also have to look into getting more followers for her social media as well as figure out the proper way to credit others in a blog post or otherwise. I should probably do that before I send her this blog post as I have mentions and credits up the wazoo. I know that mentioning other people is good for social media as it attracts their followers to your posts and puts more eyes on you but I’m not particularly educated on the etiquette for it. I’m also looking at trade shows for Sara Boyd to attend and possibly rewriting other parts of the website and clothing descriptions. I am really digging the Monday sucks quotes. I think they have been beneficial for both Sara and me as they get us started for the week along with our weekly phone meetings. She really picks some good ones. The Maya Angelou was very relevant and the quote “They told me I couldn’t do it. That’s why I did” is very much Sara. I think it has been a good part of building and creating this brand identity and I think it just goes to show the importance of internal marketing and the importance of it to be cohesive with the brand.

I am also over the moon that she is including her mood boards for her Fall/Winter 2014 collection in her social media. I’m the intern and even I am ridiculously excited to see what she has in store for us. I love the idea of appealing to smart, geeky women. We discussed in our last phone call that there is nothing better than an intelligent woman who says “fuck” a lot but I’d also say that someone who reads and is passionate about things regardless of whether the rest of society is into them or not is pretty frigging awesome as well. I love the colors that she is looking at as well as the gloves and the glasses. I think it would be really great for her to collaborate with an accessories designer because they could bounce ideas off each other and it could cut the costs on their advertising but also give them both more coverage. Hopefully she finds one that works for her at an event in July.

I also think it would be great to start a Band of the week post. Sara has introduced me to a bunch of bands already that I just love. Last week it was Wild Belle who I think Sara should get in contact with and try to get Natalie Bergman to wear some of the clothes from Sara P. Lovejoy. I’m absolutely obsessed with their song “keep you.” It has been stuck in my head all week. This week, it’s the Dead Kennedys. I’m not going to lie, it took me a couple listens to really get the music but these guys are wickedly smart and they grew on me. They have a very large body of work which makes it hard to pick a favorite. IF you haven’t heard of either of them you should certainly check them out.

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What I have not done this week, and it’s been killing me, is come up with a clever name for my blog entries. I’m Sara’s first intern so I’m setting the standard for all the interns to come and thus I have got to be bad ass and pick something really cool. That might be something that I talk about at the event full of creative people. I have found that just talking to other people has been such a helpful tool because they can look at what I’m doing from a different point of view and can think of things that I would have never thought of. Which leads me to my call to action: Do you have any ideas on what to name this Blog? Are you a blogger experienced with referencing other people in your blogs without rubbing anyone the wrong way? All ideas are welcome, especially if they’re ridiculous.

“Some people say, “Never let them see you cry.” I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.”

As a mad crier, I love this. When I am so mad & screaming & then…. the tears start to flow, ugh. It is probably one of the most frustrating things about myself that I have NO control over. The absolute last thing I want to show at that moment and I am blubbering like a goddamn baby. I hate being the crying female that can’t handle her emotions. So now I will think of it as less as I am the crazy, hysterical woman; I will now be the woman who is crying in order to confuse & terrify my enemies. Thanks Tina.

Let me start with how I acquired the position of Sara P. Boyd’s intern at Sara P. Lovejoy. I

had been looking for a marketing internship but nothing was quite what I was hoping for. I wanted to

experience an internship where I could be very involved and creative and make a difference. Most of the

internships available to me through my college were through large corporations who, while I’m sure they

do have great internship programs, I felt like I would get lost in them and that any difference I could make

as an intern would be small. I chose to look through new avenues to find a designer or company that was

small or new and truly needed the help. I was fortunate to come across Sara P. Boyd’s internship and after

doing some research I realized that both her and her work really resonated with me so I sent her an e-
mail and crossed my fingers. She was very honest and told me she was on the fence about taking me on

as an intern and that if there was ever a time to prove myself it was now. So, of course, I filled her inbox

with multiple e-mails about how ardently I wanted to work for her and attachments to my writing and

marketing portfolio. Thankfully Sara recognized this as enthusiasm and not insanity and now here I am.

My job as Sara’s intern is an interesting one. I’m not entirely sure if I really knew what I was

getting myself into. Sara, as an independent designer, is so new that she really doesn’t have a lot of

marketing for her brand or products nor does she have much of a team behind her yet. Basically, I am

the marketing team. My job is to get her name out there through the cacophony of every other fashion

designer out there as well as research way to market her work and make her job easier and more efficient.

Not at all intimidating, right? Nonetheless, it made me all the more excited. So far, I have proposed my

thoughts on how to improve her web and social media presence as well as a list of 50 ridiculous ideas,

one of which was this very intern blog. The point of a list of 50 ridiculous ideas was quite simply to come

up with a bunch of ideas no matter how bad or absurd they seemed and chances are a couple of them

might actually be good ideas. I also suggested the idea of posting a quote every Monday because nobody

likes Mondays and sometimes we need a little help getting through them. She seemed to like that idea as

well so I’ve also created a list of possible Monday quotes.

In our last phone meeting we discussed the press kit and any changes that needed to be made to

the website. Sara brought up that her Bio page needed to be rewritten, which I completely agreed. There

wasn’t anything particularly bad about her Bio page but it just wasn’t her. I was actually really shocked at

our first phone meeting because although I could tell she was a very dedicated and hard working person,

I had no clue she had so much personality. Her Bio page was just too flat in comparison. This woman is

so courageous and vivacious and funny and it really needed to be seen in her bio. Thus, I’ve rewritten it

about three or four times. Hopefully the end result does her justice. I’ve also been researching a better

way to do hang tags. Hang tags are EXPENSIVE especially if you’re a small designer and not mass

producing one single product. You’d think that this part of the process would be simple but it really isn’t.

As of now, I still don’t think I’ve come up with a good answer.

So, here lies my first post to the intern blog. The plan so far is to post every week so make sure to

check back in on the progress. Comment below if you have any suggestions for hang tags or in general.

Sometimes motivation comes from unexpected sources. The best way to motivate myself is to tell a bunch of people what I’m going to do, then I HAVE to do it or I’m gonna be a liar. Want me to accomplish something? Tell me I can’t. It doesn’t mean I don’t fail but at least I can’t be accused of not trying.

“Somebody said it couldn’t be done.

But he with a chuckle replied,

That maybe it couldn’t, but he would be oneWho wouldn’t say so ’till he’d tried.So he buckled right in with a trace of a grinOn his face. If he worried, he hid it.He started to sing as he tackled the thingThat couldn’t be done. And he did.

Somebody scoffed, “Oh, you’ll never do thatAt least no one ever has done it.”But he took off his coat, and he took off his hat,And the first thing we know, he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,Without any doubting or “quit-it”.He started to sing as he tackled the thingThat couldn’t done. And he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done.There are thousands to prophesy failure.There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,>The dangers that wait to assail you

But just buckle in, with a bit of a grin;Just take off your coat and go to it.Just start in to sing as you tackle the thingThat cannot be done–and you’ll do it!” ― Edgar A. Guest

It just has everything good in a quote- Inspiration, Dreams, Maya Angelou, the word “lapels” & swearing. Perfection. A great way to commence my quotable posts aka “because Mondays suck” coined by Josie -my favorite intern.